Mendocino County Lodging Association
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Atrium Bed & Breakfast, Fort Bragg, CA

The meeting was called to order by President Jo Bradley at 1:30pm. Present were Jitu Ishwar, Deny Shah, Chris Knoerdel, Steven Musser, Scott Schneider (ED), Renata Dorn & guest, Richard Strom, Pam Amante, Kevin Gallagher, Stuart Marcus, Jeff Stanford, Josie Perla, Phone: Mike Bradbrook. Guest: Alydia Atkins.

Approval of Last Meeting’s Minutes
Richard makes a motion to approve March minutes with the following amendments:
1. Moving allocation of $12,000 from the Treasurer’s Report to Marketing;
2. Removal of Kevin Gallagher’s name as attendee (meant to but didn’t)
Steven seconds. Motion passes.

Treasurer’s Report
Savings Account - $15,357.41
Checking Account - $7,864.83
Jeff motions to approve treasurer’s report. Josie seconds. Motion Passes.


MCPA Report
Update:
• Scott reported there was no quorum at the last meeting so no decisions were made.
• Richard and Alydia reported:
• Several sites being considered for a CA Welcome Center
• Presentation made on funding for National Heritage Area
• Funding the Film Office - $5,000
• Increased events on gomendo.com
• Sent out Earth Day Email blast
• Signs being built and developed for National Forest and County Museum
• 2 locations in Piercy and “Rock Shop” for gateway signs
• Continuing to work on the Agritourism conference
• Board will hold annual retreat in May
GoMendo:
• Committee exists to work on website. Need to follow protocol by contacting Jan who is the rep on the committee.
• Many performance updates need to be made.
• Discussion on giving SEM to Dobay Design to increase efficiency.
• Recommendation to require a link back to gomendo.com for a free listing
• Need parameters for listings
• Jeff motions Kevin to develop a draft policy for submissions on gomendo.com to be submitted to Joint Marketing Committee as well as explore SEM with Dobay Design. Pam seconds. Motion Passes.

Marketing Committee Report
• Joint Marketing:
• Marketing Survey/Plan RFP firm to be hired in coming weeks.
• Photographer project being coordinated by Arts Council to help establish photo library.
• Marketing Committee requests to approve $600 for advertising in Rural Tourism Conference in September.
• Marketing Committee requests to approve $500 in partnership funds for the Mendocino Coast Writer’s Conference with specific deliverables including year-round promotion of workshops for writers County-wide.
• Santa Rosa Airport update: adding 3rd flight to LA then to Vegas; new runway to accommodate larger planes planned for 2010; new airport planned in 5 yrs, will increase parking space & be an all green airport
• Partnership funding form accepted
• WineSong! funding request for transportation declined
• Richard Motions to approve marketing committee report. Jeff seconds. Motion Passes.

Administration Report
• Passed out film office report. Jeff motions MCLA join MCPA in the effort of setting up a committee by writing a letter to the Film Office. Pam seconds. Motion Passes.
• Request Board/Committee member presence at CTTC April 22nd event.
• April 15th BOS public hearing at 11:30. Attendance is encouraged.
• Stuart to attend CTTC event on April 22nd.


Old Business
• Tracking Our Progress Report – no meeting held –
• Fulfillment Piece Update – Fulfillment Piece to be printed ASAP.
• Festivals – MCPA developing festival policy with regard to its role. MCLA continues to support the idea of an Eco-Fest which should include the traditional Mushroom & Wine Festival.

New Business
• Green Bag Policy – Policy needed regarding giving out bags to organizations and promotional efforts. Scott is to develop draft policy. Scott to look into the possibility of obtaining a sponsorship for the bags. Bags can also be sold to members at cost.

• National Heritage Area – Scott handed out information and will discuss further at the next meeting.

• Mendocino.com Presentation – Skip Taube & Drea Hypes propose links on Mendocino.com for all lodging members. They are offering an introductory offering for $2.38 each per month – total of $14,964.00 for the first year (50% savings) based on 525 members. Jeff motions we do not accept the proposal and inform them immediately. Chris seconds. Motion Passes.

Next Meeting
Scheduled for May 7th in Willits, Super 8 Motel

Closed Session

Adjournment